Covington man pleads guilty in veterans' medication sting

A Covington man contracted to deliver U.S. Postal Service mail admitted in federal court to stealing a marked parcel that he believed contained 180 tablets of hydrocodone.

Anthony Holcombe, 28, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to mail theft, punishable by a maximum of five years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervision following release.

U.S. District Judge Jay Zainey is scheduled to sentence him on Nov. 16.

Holcombe's arrest was the product of a sting on March 20, 2008, in which Postal Service Special Agent Chris Nugent prepared a packaged that purported to be from the New Orleans Veterans Affairs Medical Center, according to the factual basis that Holcombe signed as part of his plea.

After complaints from veterans that they were not receiving their prescribed medications, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs' Office of Inspector General contacted the Postal Service's Office of Inspector General and the two began a joint investigation into the matters, the factual basis states.

Holcombe was a highway contract route driver for Pelican Mail Transport, a company contracted by the Postal Service. He was responsible for transporting mail from the New Orleans Processing and Distribution Plant, 701 Loyola Ave., to post offices in Amite, Roseland, Fluker, Tangipahoa and Kentwood, the court records state.

On March 20, 2008, after Holcombe failed to deliver the parcel to its specified address in Amite, investigators located it via the transmitter and pulled Holcombe over, court records state.

Investigators found a gray and black duffle bag in the middle of the front seat, observed the package inside and arrested him.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Loan "Mimi" Nguyen.